Enhanced nitrogen deposition over China

Publikations-Art

Zeitschriftenbeitrag (peer-reviewed)

Autoren

Liu, X., Zhang, Y., Han, W., Tang, A., Shen, J., Cui, Z., Vitoursek, P., Erisman, J.W., Goulding, K., Christie, P., Fangmeier, A., Zhang, F.

Erscheinungsjahr

2013

Veröffentlicht in

Nature

Band/Volume

494/

DOI

doi:10.1038/nature11917

Seite (von - bis)

459-462

China is experiencing intense air pollution caused in large part by
anthropogenic emissions of reactive nitrogen1,2. These emissions
result in the deposition of atmospheric nitrogen (N) in terrestrial
and aquatic ecosystems, with implications for human and ecosystem
health, greenhouse gas balances and biological diversity1,3–5.
However, information on the magnitude and environmental
impact ofNdeposition in China is limited. Here we use nationwide
data sets on bulk N deposition, plant foliar N and crop N uptake
(from long-term unfertilized soils) to evaluate N deposition
dynamics and their effect on ecosystems across China between
1980 and 2010. We find that the average annual bulk deposition
of N increased by approximately 8 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare
(P ,0.001) between the 1980s (13.2 kilograms of nitrogen per
hectare) and the 2000s (21.1 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare).
Nitrogen deposition rates in the industrialized and agriculturally
intensified regions of China are as high as the peak levels of deposition
in northwestern Europe in the 1980s6, before the introduction
of mitigation measures7,8. Nitrogen from ammonium (NH4
1) is
the dominant form of N in bulk deposition, but the rate of increase
is largest for deposition of N from nitrate (NO3
2), in agreement
with decreased ratios of NH3 to NOx emissions since 1980. We also
find that the impact of N deposition on Chinese ecosystems
includes significantly increased plant foliar N concentrations in
natural and semi-natural (that is, non-agricultural) ecosystems
and increased crop N uptake from long-term-unfertilized croplands.
China and other economies are facing a continuing challenge
to reduce emissions of reactive nitrogen, N deposition and
their negative effects on human health and the environment.